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Face-name association

Creating a face-name association

Select a word or phrase that sounds like the name (con rat for Conrad).

Create an interactive image linking the distinctive feature with the keyword(s) (a man in a prisoner’s uniform — con — rides a rat that slides down the nose).

To remember the name on seeing the face again, you must:

Identify the distinctive feature that you used when encoding (nose).

Use that feature to help you retrieve the interactive image (a con riding a rat sliding down a nose).

Derive the keyword(s) from the image (con rat).

Use the keyword to help you retrieve the name (Conrad).

Drawbacks to the face-name association method

To use the face-name association method in a social situation requires a great deal of practice.

The other drawback to this method is that it requires you to select a distinctive feature. This is not always easy, particularly when you’re distracted and time is short (which is usually the case when you’re being introduced to someone). But finding a distinctive feature is absolutely crucial to the strategy’s effectiveness.

Face-name association only works well to the extent that the selected distinctive feature is an effective cue.